


Emphemeral Considerations of A Camilla (Woven in Cthonic Spider Lily and Celestial Wisteria)

by Gothams_Only_Wolf



Series: Miso Soup For the Soul [4]
Category: Chinese Mythology, かくりよの宿飯 | Kakuriyo no Yadomeshi | Kakuriyo: Bed & Breakfast for Spirits (Anime)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Dark Past, F/M, M/M, Multi, Polyamory, Polyamory Negotiations, Polyfidelity
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-23
Updated: 2020-02-23
Packaged: 2021-02-27 23:54:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,601
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22864372
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Gothams_Only_Wolf/pseuds/Gothams_Only_Wolf
Summary: Aoi reminisces on her cold past and her warm future with someone who takes her tale as it is because he was once in her place.She finds much in the telling that she knows to be true and some things that are a surprise even to her.CONTAINS SERIES SPOILERS.
Relationships: Ginji/Oodanna/Tsubaki Aoi, Ginji/Tsubaki Aoi, Oodanna/Tsubaki Aoi
Series: Miso Soup For the Soul [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1430842
Comments: 5
Kudos: 67





	Emphemeral Considerations of A Camilla (Woven in Cthonic Spider Lily and Celestial Wisteria)

**Author's Note:**

> Aoi's fic was harder, mostly because she's our audience connection and mortal compared to her Fox and her God. 
> 
> I hope I did her justice, even if its bittersweet. 
> 
> Enoy~

* * *

Xu Xian, Aoi found, was a human bound near immortal by the love of two great snakes of immense magical power, though he either didn't notice or didn't care so long as he was with them. 

He asked for her story as she prepared the meal of the night, fingers quick and light as she battered shrimp for the sweet tempura she was making. 

"If he is not offending by asking...?" 

"No, no, no offense is taken. How can it when you're a writer who seeks to know a story that not many share?" She hummed, rinsing her hands of the batter and dried them off on her apron. Aoi gently touched both her flames and her hair stick, which was close to blooming fully, thus completing her contract with her God. 

Marriage didn't seem so frightening now, not when she knew him, knew her Fox, not when her loves had sworn never to stray from her—even if she died. 

"I suppose it starts with seeing ayakashi, seeing things that only miko or monks should be able to see in an age where such things have become only stories, never truths." She admitted as she moved onto the sour side dishes to complement the tempura.

"A troubling thought but one he has seen coming, though less has it been in his country in recent years. The past and the ayakashi that live in it are never gone, only forgotten or given less teeth with age." Xian hummed as he wrote. 

"My parents took me to a temple when I was young and the miko there told them it was in my best interest to be a shrine maiden. I could be protected by my temple and the miko in it. My parents... they refuted it, they renounced such claims though the ayakashi certainly didn't." 

"No, they tend to hold onto the family of those who know them as they are and what they once were; ayakashi do not forget." 

"My grandfather... Many have told me I mirror his temperament." If her knife hit the board a little firmer than usual, her observer wisely made no comment.

Xian looked her over and shook his head no. "You are a Tsubaki, certainly, but mirroring Shiro? Only in his stubbornness and the want to do what is right, not what is done because it has been for thousands of years. You are unique, despite the society you once lived in telling you otherwise. What was the phrase again...?" 

"A nail that sticks out gets hammered in. Yes, in most cases. It worked for my parents. It worked for my grandmother but not for grandpa and I. The ayakashi presence lingered, both in the apparent and hidden realm. I hadn't realized how many ayakashi he blocked until they showed up at the funeral in human guises. It was only their debt to him that allowed me to escape unharmed." 

"What changed, if she doesn't mind him asking?" 

"Shiro-san, he was a human who thought in both worlds but more... importantly, in the way of an ayakashi. He thought in long term, mostly, when it came to his family. When his daughter left Aoi behind, he incurred a debt here. A debt that was nearly unpayable by any form known in either realm. Through the marriage of his most beloved family to someone he knew could protect her from other ayakashi, he cemented her place in both realms as an intermediary." Ginji replied, laid a gentle kiss to her cheek and then pressed his forehead to hers briefly. 

"You are her beloved Fox and his divine beast. How do you reconcile the two?" Xian inquired. 

"Easily. I am her first beloved and protector. He is her second but equal, not lesser. Our hearts dyed two shades of red in a set of three." His tails brushed against her legs, content and only interjecting when asked. He wanted her to be able to tell her story. 

"I see. What lead you here?" 

"Ōdanna kidnapped me, in the way of daiyokai, only _after_ I'd offered him my meal..." Aoi delighted in relaying those details, excitement in place of the fear which had once colored the experience.

* * *

After Moonflower had been locked up for the night by Bai and her two beloveds, Aoi strolled hand-in-hand on the grounds with Ginji. They slowly wound their way up towards the springs and found Ōdanna there with a basket full of drinks, food and towels.

"A hot spring night?" Aoi blurted, flushing at the thought of sharing a spring with her beloveds.

"Her God and his thought it wise to relax. We will turn around, if you wish for privacy, or take the spring adjacent." Ginji offered, his tails swishing low in his hesitation, lush ears laid down but not back. 

"She will take a towel or two and yes, she wishes for you to turn around but," Aoi paused, chewed at her lower lip and then breathed out, "she wants to share the spring with her God and her Fox." 

Ōdanna rumbled, a flicker of his green crown of flames visible, pleasure burning clear in his gaze. "She delights her God with such talk." 

"She delights her Fox too," Ginji purred, tails swishing up into their full glory. 

Ōdanna handed her the basket after he'd removed the food and drink, both of them turning around and blocking her from sight of anyone else. She stripped, folded her layers carefully, wound a towel around herself with another laid over her shoulders before she said, "I'm ready." 

Ōdanna turned first and the flames burst into being again, this time with a low, steady rumble coming from her God; almost as though he were a tiger and looking at his best meal. "She delights him so and yet teases." He caressed her cheek, black talon gently scraping over her cheek but leaving behind no wound. "May I, my Camilla?" 

She leaned into the touch and embraced him, her fingers digging into the silken haori as he kissed her just short of breathless. 

"May I, beloved Bride?" Ginji purred, warm chest pressed against her back through the cloth. 

She squeaked but spun on the ball of her foot to kiss her Fox, freed hand cradling his face, this one leaving her gasping as Ginji gentled their kiss into something less passionate and more tender. 

Her other hand still caught in Ōdanna's haori suddenly fell as her God shed the layer. "Are you two going to strip layers and make me dizzy with kisses?" 

"Hnn, our Camilla has caught on, my divine beast. Nothing happens without your permission, beloved, and we are only stripping to our underlayers." Ōdanna mentioned, removing his haori to fold it next to her kimono layers. "If that is her wish." 

"To the juban, then, and kisses until they're revealed." Compromise was something Aoi knew even as she was reeled in for another kiss that left her tasting brimstone afterwards. 

By the time they settled into the spring to feed her inari-zushi and a small bite of something that kicked spicy at the end, she was tasting brimstone and sunshine on her lips. 

Aoi listened to Ōdanna and Ginji run over the daily issues of running Tenjin-ya, adding her input even as she was gently pampered by both of her beloveds. 

Her hands and arms were gently massaged only up until the towel before she motioned that they could go under the shoulder towel. She hummed at the warmth that seeped in on either side from her God and her Fox, blissfully enjoying their full attention. They pulled back in increments until they were only holding her hands again. 

"Aoi?" 

"Mmm," 

"Time to get dressed," 

"Can we stay here?" 

"No, my Camilla, unfortunately not." Ōdanna gently coaxed her up and out of her warmth-induced sedation. 

She grumbled incoherently as she dried off and dressed once again, confident in her beloveds keeping thier words and dressing too. 

Aoi listened Ginji and Ōdanna argue over her obi knot, one wanting a more elaborate one than the one she'd left Moonflower with, the other arguing that a retied knot would ruin her reputation and that the marriage would be moved to sooner than any of them wanted. 

"Aoi, would you like to join our debate?" 

"I've already retied it," She pointed out, gently shifting it towards her back. "and Ginji is correct that any knot other than what I left with would be frowned upon by the more traditional ayakashi who have stayed with Tenjin-ya out of loyalty to you Ōdanna. Our marriage is scandalous as it is with two grooms instead of one. Let's not irritate them further?" 

"... Two?" 

"Yourself and Ōdanna," Aoi replied to his stunned expression. " Did I not—Oh. _Oh!_ I meant to tell you this morning but-" 

Ginji swept her up into a tight embrace, his fox ears brushing her cheek as he shook in her arms. " _She would **honor** him like that-_" 

"Equal, my divine beast, as we are held in her heart." Ōdanna murmured as he held both of them close. "Humilty is, as I said before, not self-deprecation. Especially not with this," Ginji yipped, gave Ōdanna a dirty look and Aoi only laughed as she was caught between them.

* * *

The light of the sun spilled over the tatami mats, turning lush silver and black to gold with a single wash of color. 

Aoi woke with the sun most days, but rarely were her God and her Fox still sleeping beside her; such was the way of things and the running of the inn took precedence. She watched over them with love overflowing in her chest. 

Perhaps if she moved quickly enough, she might even be back before the day had truly begun.

She slipped on Ōdanna's haori, tying everything back with Ginji's tasuki and then rushed to greet the supplier of Moonflower with a cheerfulness that made the old ayakashi smile at her. 

Aoi turned on the stove, gently rubbed oil into the tamagoyaki square pan before she scrambled the eggs and put in the seasonings that would make it light and sweet. 

She worked quickly but not without caution, sipping her tea between waiting for things to boil or cook just right. Her knife flashed as she cut the tamagoyaki, her hands shifting tools as she ladled clear broth into three bowls and set a sardine and sour plum in each bowl of rice. 

Aoi looked up at the door of Moonflower opening but it was only Byakuya, the hakutaku blearily blinking at her activity level before the sun was even touching the inner buildings of Tenjin-ya's courtyard. 

"May I have some tea?" 

"Of course," she poured him a cup and even served the rice she had left topped with sauteed vegetables that wouldve gone to waste otherwise. "Was there something on your mind, Accountant? It's just that I want to be there when they awaken and it's a blessing I don't often receive." 

Byakuya seemed to soften at the sight of the food in front of him. "... I suppose it could wait until after breakfast, Tsubaki-san." 

"Thank you!" She said and was off, apron slung just so on the hanger before she left. 

"Am I seeing things or is she wearing Ōdanna's beloved haori and Ginji's... Really now, that is-" The door of Moonflower clicked shut on the hakutaku's grumbling as Aoi sailed back into the main building with a happy hum. 

She returned in time to see their shared blanket slip from Ōdanna's shoulder and pool around Ginji, still sleeping but his nose wrinkled and then sniffed. Aoi chuckled softly and that woke both of them. 

"Our Bride is awake with the dawn it seems, my divine beast." 

"Hmm? Oh, Aoi, you didn't have to do that. I would've-Are you wearing my tasuki?" Ginji flushed pink at that, scrubbing at his sleep warm face before Aoi caught his hands. 

"I wanted to and yes, I was wearing something that belongs to both of you while I was doing it." She let go of his hands to cradle his face in hers and press gently kisses to his face and then, a bit cheekily, to his ears. 

"Aoi... Thank you for breakfast. It is rare indeed to have time together before the rest of the Inn awakens." Ōdanna murmured as he stroked his knuckles down her cheek and then pressed kisses to her face and lips until she nearly got lost in them. 

"Hm-mm. Breakfast. Then kisses," she ordered reluctantly. 

"Breakfast and kisses?" Ginji butted in, play growling when Ōdanna nipped at his lips. 

"Sounds reasonable to me," Aoi teased as she picked up the first tamagoyaki and offered it to Ginji. 

He stopped kissing to take it, wiggled the end sticking out of his mouth and gave a food-muffled gasp when Ōdanna bit the rest off. 

Though Ōdanna chewed solemnly, the mirth clear in the corners of his eyes and the way his lips tilted ever so slightly, Aoi knew he was enjoying himself immensely. 

So different from what she'd first seen, cold and cruel and well, still handsome even if it had been tainted by fear. 

She looked at Ginji, who was teasing him with a piece of kelp from the broth, and thought that beneath his kindness, his helpfulness lay a divine kitsune still unsure of his worth in a world that had proven it time and again. 

Change came slowly in the hidden realm but it wasn't impossible. She had proof in front of her, her first and second loves. Aoi glanced down at her empty hands and was surprised when Ginji's tails swept into them.

"Who was it who wanted breakfast on the futon?" He prodded, the understanding in the glacial gaze making her laugh. 

"I did but I didn't think that Ōdanna would have so much fun stealing food from your mouth only to give it back with kisses." 

"Hnn. Time to feed our Bride and perhaps listen to her thoughts?" Ōdanna volunteered quietly, the crimson gaze looking her over in worry. 

"They're more reminiscing than true thoughts but if you want, I'll share them." Aoi offered after her bite of tamagoyaki was washed down with some broth. 

"He would hear it then, her God," 

"And her Fox, for her thoughts matter greatly." Ginji finished even as he offered her another bite, this time from the crispy sardine she'd placed in his rice. 

She accepted, smiled behind her hand as she chewed and then nodded. "Well, I suppose it's the fact that the way I look at the hidden realm has changed; in regards to not only our God but you as well. I've changed in ways I didn't recognize at first but appreciate now thanks to Grandpa's inadvertent training. About how excited I am to be married when marriage, even only a few months ago, was a prospect that seemed so terrifying." 

"Perhaps, had I been less abrasive-" Ōdanna murmured, his dark brows furrowed in contrition. 

"No, I wouldn't have you any other way now that I know that your abrasive side covered a side to rival even the sweetest of mochi." She admitted, lacing their hands together and stealing Ginji's free one. "That you supported me, even though you left so many hints at our time together... Thank you." 

Aoi kissed each of the hands she was holding and relished in the feeling of warmth like the one she'd experienced but twice in her life; the blossoming of love in her heart, a meeting of hellish and divine and brighter than the stars because of it.

**Author's Note:**

> Comment, complain, ect.


End file.
